Brookfield Zoo introduces baby aardvark

A baby aardvark born last month to its seven-year-old mother Jessi was introduced at Brookfield Zoo today.

A baby aardvark born last month to its seven-year-old mother Jessi was introduced at Brookfield Zoo today. (Heather Charles/ Chicago Tribune)

Staff report

Brookfield Zoo today announced the birth of an aardvark at the zoo, the first born there in a decade.

The aardvark—which hasn’t been named yet, in part because zookeepers don’t know what sex it is—has grown from about 4-1/2 pounds when it was born Jan. 12 to about 13 pounds today, according to the zoo.

The aardvark’s mother, Jessi, and its father, Hoover, are on loan from other zoos as part of a breeding program. During the calf’s first several weeks of life, veterinarians cared for it at night, while its mother was awake—the time the noctural animal usually would be foraging in the wild and leave its young in its burrow, according to the zoo.

Although the baby aardvark won’t be on display for a few months, the zoo will soon have a webcam available for viewing.

There have been nine aardvarks born at the zoo since 1992, but none since 2002 until last month.